Wow, It’s November Y’all! It’s amazing how the years goes by so fast these days. As we welcome November, we enter the holiday season preparing our hearts of gratitude and thanksgiving to fellowship with family and friends. We have an opportunity to pause and think about our many blessings and the love, forgiveness and mercy of God. I was scrolling on my social media page and happened to see a post about Deion Sanders. He is a former NFL & MLB player. He was inducted into the NFL HOF, he had a great collegiate career at FSU and he’s currently the head football coach at Jackson State University, a HSBU. Due to Coach Sanders success at JSU and his notoriety, he has bought attention to the many challenges HSBU have in athletics, as well as other programs. The post I read about Coach Sanders was an acknowledgment of his success at Jackson State and the fact that he didn’t have to accept the position. He’s done very well professionally and financially but he said that God directed his steps to JSU. In an interview that I saw on the news show 60 Minutes, he spoke of the Lord telling him this was what he was to do, go to JSU because what he will do is greater than football. He was called to be a leader and mentor on and off the field to those young men.
This is good news to many people because most people will applaud anyone who is used to make a positive difference in the lives of others. However, as I read the comments on the post, there was a person who didn’t focus on who Deion said he is today. This person preferred to criticized him for his personal life with his ex wife. This person said she didn’t like him for what he did and continued to rant about his past. I found this to be hypocritical because we all fall short of the glory of God. We all have a past and if we are honest many of us are dealing with current sins and transgressions. Some of us forget that we have chapters in our story that we wish we could rewrite. However, that’s not the case because those chapters occurred and all we can do is repent and learn to do better. For only God can judge us and His mercy forgives us.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says…”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” There will be many who will never read or understand this scripture and that’s okay because your concern is what the Lord purposed you to do. In my opinion this is what thanksgiving is all about. We get to celebrate, applaud, encourage and uplift the new creations we have become in Christ; and for those who prefer to remain in the past we simply pray for them and allow the Lord to help them. So to Coach Sanders, you or anyone doing what God called you to do, keep pressing on because God gets the glory for all of it. He especially gets the glory because our past has been forgiven and His purpose for our life is being witnessed by those who can see the Holy Spirit working to transform the lives of others for the better. Therefore, remember the same God who wants the best for you wants the best for all of His children, so when He calls you to do something outside of the ordinary do not allow anyone’s comments or limited understanding deter you from the Lord’s purpose because all of us can be used in-spite of our past. Never forget that God’s mercy and love redeems us. Have a blessed, safe and prosperous Thanksgiving with your loved ones!
Until the Next Blog,
Blessings & Love!